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Twice-Injured Soprano

The phrase “break a leg” may imply something a bit more literal to the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, below right, when she performs in Verdi’s “Ernani” at the Lyric Opera in Chicago on Oct. 27. Ms. Radvanovsky’s publicist said the singer tore a ligament in her right ankle when she kicked a would-be mugger trying to steal her purse in San Francisco on Oct. 3. She was able to hang on to her purse, but three days later, she broke a toe during a performance of “Il Trovatore” when the tenor Marco Berti fell to his knees and onto her left foot. She is now wearing a cast on her right leg. “Yep, gonna sing the whole run like this, most likely,” Ms. Radvanovsky is quoted as saying. “He felt so bad, poor guy, and he couldn’t be a nicer person.” Ms. Radvanovsky is not the only opera singer of late to soldier on despite an injury. Joyce DiDonato broke her leg in London in July while performing Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at the Royal Opera House and managed to finish her performances in a wheelchair. (She can be seen in the same role at the Met this week.)